Bavaria was the last of the major German kingdoms to begin striking gold 20 Mark pieces under the Imperial coinage law, and Otto's issues present an unusual circumstance: the king depicted never once exercised power. Declared mentally incapacitated in 1875, Otto spent his entire nominal reign confined at Fürstenried Palace while his uncle Luitpold governed as Prince Regent. The coins bearing his name were struck for nearly two decades under a regency that everyone understood to be permanent.
Luitpold finally pushed through legislation in 1913 to depose Otto formally and assume the kingship outright, ending the fiction. That year's striking is the final date in the series.
Bavaria was the last of the major German kingdoms to begin striking gold 20 Mark pieces under the Imperial coinage law, and Otto's issues present an unusual circumstance: the king depicted never once exercised power. Declared mentally incapacitated in 1875, Otto spent his entire nominal reign confined at Fürstenried Palace while his uncle Luitpold governed as Prince Regent. The coins bearing his name were struck for nearly two decades under a regency that everyone understood to be permanent.
Luitpold finally pushed through legislation in 1913 to depose Otto formally and assume the kingship outright, ending the fiction. That year's striking is the final date in the series.